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Coral Vue Hydros

Tampa Area Biotope Tank


Guits

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Hi everyone, I've been working on a Tampa biotope tank in a Fluval Spec V using live rock from Gulf Live Rock and collecting pieces with notable hitchhikers. Dan from Gulf Live Rock was very helpful with my interest in creating a live rock-only tank and was able to find some nice rock for my orders. After several months and several live rock orders, I've been able to acquire a collection of hitchhiking corals that I am quite pleased with. I enjoy the challenge of stocking a tank with corals that would otherwise be impossible to obtain, as the corals can only be obtained as hitchhikers on aquacultured live rock. Also, it was fun to have surprises along the way since I couldn't specifically choose the exact specimens I wawnted. Aquascaping was also quite an ordeal as it was difficulty finding an adequate arrangement of live rock while showcasing the hitchhikers, as unlike individual specimens that you might be able to move from one rock to another, the corals are fixed in the position they were found in the wild.

 

I have a specific interest in Caribbean Rose Corals (Manicina areolata) and feel very lucky to have acquired several specimens on the live rock. The corals I have in this tank include Manicina areolata, Oculina sp., Siderastrea sp., Phyllangia americana (aka hidden cup coral), Cladocora arbuscula (aka tube coral), and a gorgonian (may be Eunicea sp. but I don't know the exact identity). I've let various macroalgae species (some desireable, others less so) grow from the rock and enjoying letting the tank mature without much interferance except feeding the coral and fish and "transplanting" some macroalgae from one location to another. The only critters in the tank that didn't originate from the rock are the clean up crew (snails and hermits) and my Molly Miller Blenny (I did extensive internet searches and do believe the native range of these blennies include the Tampa area). Sadly for my tank, I will be tearing it down this afternoon for a move to New York, so part of the reason I'm posting the pictures is so that I can remember the tank in case the move doesn't go so smoothly for my tank. Enjoy!

 

Full Tank Shot in February 2014 (Week 1)

FullTankShotFebruary.jpg

 

Full Tank Shot Today (July 2014)

FullTankShot.jpg

 

My favorite corner - left side of tank with gorgonian, starlet coral, rose coral, oculina, hidden cup coral, various macroalgae

ManicinaTankLeftside.jpg

 

Hidden Cup Coral

HiddenCupCoral.jpg

 

Collection of Manicina

Manicina1.jpg

Manicina3and4.jpg

Manicina5.jpg

Manicina6.jpg

Manicina1-1.jpg

 

Oculina and Cladocora

Oculina2-1.jpg

Oculina1.jpg

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This is a lovely tank. There are so many unique corals in here! I hope all goes well during the move! It would be a shame to lose a tank like this.

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  • 3 months later...
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Spenseriana

Hi Guits, lovely tank. I have what I believe to be a 1 cm diameter rose coral that came in on some Gulf-View. I'm not sure. It is a bright pink color. Have you seen or heard of pink manicina before? It's too small to photograph atm but has doubled in size since I got it.

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Hi Guits, lovely tank. I have what I believe to be a 1 cm diameter rose coral that came in on some Gulf-View. I'm not sure. It is a bright pink color. Have you seen or heard of pink manicina before? It's too small to photograph atm but has doubled in size since I got it.

 

Thanks! I have one that is pink. It actually started out less pink but has become pink over the past 2-3 months, interestingly with one side being more pure pink than the other. I can't seem to get it to photograph as pink as it is in real life but here is a pic from earlier this month:

 

IMG_1661.jpg

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Spenseriana

Ah, thanks so much for the response. Yeah, that's a really nice piece. I can't get true color in any of my pics, either. But I see pink there. Good to know. It's actually grown a little bit even since I posted. I think a little food actually fell on him and he ate it and puffed up. Happy little fellow right now. Stoked.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Wow, this is super cool. Just amazing how natural it looks.

 

Thanks! I think that the natural look is due in large part to allowing the hitchhikers and macroalgae be the focus.

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Here is a picture I took today. I changed the light to a Nanobox mini. It's hard to take representative pictures with my iPhone since it doesn't seem to handle the blue very well, but this is close to what it looks like in real life:

 

IMG_1745.jpg

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Beautiful as always. Have you noticed anything in particular that influenced the patterns of growth in your roses? Dies higher flow make them more wavy? More food?

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Beautiful as always. Have you noticed anything in particular that influenced the patterns of growth in your roses? Dies higher flow make them more wavy? More food?

 

Thanks! For me feeding seems to influence the most. It also seems like some specimens don't seem to grow much, even when I used to feed daily, especially blue/violet one near the top. I haven't noticed anything that makes them more "wavy." I have pretty low flow in this tank since I still use the stock pump that comes with the Fluval V.

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Mine eat like pigs. Feeders always out looking for more. I've been feeding every other day and the colors seem to be really improving.

Hope your blue one takes off.

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I love this tank!!! are those two small fish in the newest photo?

 

Thanks! Yup, those are masked gobies which also appeared in a previous picture. I actually had tiger gobies and a rusty goby but the masked gobies are the only ones who survived an ich attack :mellow:

 

They are a breeding pair, here is a video:

 

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fishfreak0114

So sorry to hear about the ich.?When I have more money, I would love to design a tank after this. It makes the tank seem way bigger than it is too, the way you've laid it out. Love it?. Nice video by the way

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I purchased a 45g tank a few years ago for something special...that is no longer available in the U.S.

So I'm thinking, "What should I do with it?"

Then I came across this topic!

 

I've been living in the Tampa Bay area for 25+ years now and I think trying a tank like this would be awesome.

I'm fairly familiar with the inverts and small fish native to this area.

 

Very glad to hear that your tank did OK with the move up north.

It looks great and has my mind rolling with ideas.

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I purchased a 45g tank a few years ago for something special...that is no longer available in the U.S.

So I'm thinking, "What should I do with it?"

Then I came across this topic!

 

I've been living in the Tampa Bay area for 25+ years now and I think trying a tank like this would be awesome.

I'm fairly familiar with the inverts and small fish native to this area.

 

Very glad to hear that your tank did OK with the move up north.

It looks great and has my mind rolling with ideas.

 

Thanks! Since you live in the area, you might be able to pick up some nice rock pieces from Gulf Life Rock or Tampa Bay Saltwater, both of which are in your area I think. With the ability to maybe personally hand select live rock with desireable hitchhikers and avoid the die-off that occurs with shipping, you would be able to create an incredible tank. Personally, I think it is neat to create a tank with critters from our very own US waters. In addition to this tank, I have another tank that is stocked almost exclusively with livestock from KP Aquatics who stock livestock from the Florida Keys.

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I'm on the St Pete side of the bay. I know where Tampa Bay Saltwater is and I'm sure I can find Gulf Live Rock easy enough.

Someone here turned me on to KP's site. I like it!

 

I've a couple tanks planned, a few will represent marine life from this area.

Some I hope to be able to collect myself.

 

I love the video of your Masked Gobies breeding. Did you ever notice any fry that hatched?

I'm very interested in trying to breed a few marine fish and those guys are on my short list.

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I'm on the St Pete side of the bay. I know where Tampa Bay Saltwater is and I'm sure I can find Gulf Live Rock easy enough.

Someone here turned me on to KP's site. I like it!

 

I've a couple tanks planned, a few will represent marine life from this area.

Some I hope to be able to collect myself.

 

I love the video of your Masked Gobies breeding. Did you ever notice any fry that hatched?

I'm very interested in trying to breed a few marine fish and those guys are on my short list.

 

I think it would be amazing to collect your own specimens - check with your local regulations since there are definitely laws regarding collection. Check out this tank thread for an awesome tank that was based on locally collected animals, I believe in the Florida panhandle:

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/130009-yardboys-jetties-nano/

 

The masked goby fry were tiny. I believe they are difficult to rear, check out this link: http://www.orafarm.com/blog/2014/05/02/masked-goby/

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Thank for that link. I'm 'following' that one now also. Got to page 5 on it and it's niiiiice!

 

There are some daily limits on a few things to collect down here, but all I need is $5 and a resident fishing license from Walmart.

What I'll be looking for it not restricted or anything like that. And I can be at a really great collection spot in about 15 minutes.

 

As for the Masked Gobies--yeah, the fry are tiny. But they have been successful bred and raised.

I would like to try them myself. And if nothing else, I like them and would keep several in a DT.

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